Indians form the largest group of foreign professionals working in Britain.

Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, has announced plans to force thousands of nursing, primary teaching, hotel management and other 'skilled migrant' jobs to be advertised in employment agencies such as Jobcentre Plus.

Smith said "When it comes to immigration, in difficult economic times, I believe we need a tough system that offers British workers the first crack of the whip for jobs here."

However, The Office for National Statistics says that there are currently 562,000 unfilled vacancies in the UK.

Companies that break the new rules could have their licence to employ non-European Union migrants revoked.

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